


When Edom Descends

by Aria_Lerendeair



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: 3x20 Fix-It, 3x20 Rewrite, Alec Lightwood Makes Bad Decisions That Turn Out Okay, BAMF Alec Lightwood, BAMF Magnus Bane, Episode: s03e20 City of Glass, Immortal Husbands, M/M, Magnus doesn't go to Edom, Magnus vs. Jonathan, Magnus vs. Lilith, Prince of Hell Magnus Bane, Warlock!Alec, Was this an excuse to have Magnus wielding dual blades? Yes it was
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24240253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Lerendeair/pseuds/Aria_Lerendeair
Summary: Instead of destroying the Morningstar sword, Jonathan turns on Jace and Clary.  However, before he can kill the both of them, Magnus intervenes, and he will show Jonathan, Lilith, and Alicante what true wielding true power looks like.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 64
Kudos: 591
Collections: Favorite Malec Stories, Wingo Summer





	When Edom Descends

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic is what happens when I ask the question "But what IF instead of destroying the Morningstar Sword, Jonathan attacked Jace and Clary, and Magnus intervened..." AND "What if Edom's power was bleeding through the rift, and Magnus could feel it?" 
> 
> ....and then the fic ran away from me. 
> 
> Also is the purple a reference to Todd's hint during Season 3? Yes, yes it is.

The rend in the sky leading to Edom was already feeding him power, power that was itching to claim him as King now that his father had been banished to Limbo and Magnus rolled his shoulders under the weight of it, even as wraiths descended into the city. He could feel Lilith’s control over them, but this far away from her influence, they were reacting to baser instincts. 

A shout from Clary had his attention sharpening and Magnus was sharing a look with Alec before they were racing through a portal and stepping out next to Clary and Jace, with a winged Jonathan advancing on them, the Morningstar sword held in his hands. 

Magnus snarled, a low, guttural sound that belonged in the mouths of demons, reaching out with his magic. It cracked, lightning quick through the air, dark purple and knocked the sword away from his hand. He stepped between Clary and Jace, facing Jonathan with a smirk when his wings flared and he felt the dark, sludgy death magic reaching for him. With a cackling flash of white, he dissipated it. 

He watched Jonathan’s eyes widen and smirked. “You think you are the only child to ever wield power, Morgenstern?” Magnus stepped closer and watched his wings flare. 

“I’ll kill you all and watch your precious city burn!” Jonathan shouted, diving for the Morningstar sword, grabbing it before Magnus could. He held it out in front of him and smirked. “No weapon of yours can stop me.” 

Magnus hummed. He could feel Alec, Clary and Jace tense behind him, but it was better that they didn’t get out in front of Jonathan. “You made one critical mistake,” he purred as he took a step forward, that step echoing with power. “You opened a rift to  _ Edom,  _ Morgenstern.” His eyes flashed and he watched Jonathan raise his arm to swing, standing confident and tall. 

“Magnus!” 

Alec’s shout echoed and Magnus wanted to tell his beloved that it would be all right, that everything was fine, because Jonathan Morgenstern was a child playing at true power. The Morningstar blade hit the obsidian black blade that formed in his hand and he smiled at the shock that rippled through the nephilim. 

“No human weapon can stop the Morningstar blade. Now, a weapon forged in the deepest fires of Edom, a place I once called home centuries before you?  _ Well.” _ Magnus smirked and shoved Jonathan back, rolling the blade in his hand, power rippling over him in slow waves. “Let’s see how powerful you are now,  **boy.”**

Magnus ducked under the spin of Jonathan’s blade, dark purple power growing around him, a steadily darkening flame. With a shower of sparks, their blades met and he pressed in close, cataloguing the fear he could see in those eyes. “Lilith might think she rules Edom, Morgenstern,” Magnus said, twisting out of the lock, hitting Jonathan with a magic blast that sent him reeling back and echoed around them on the steps of the Institute. “But it is not her blood that beats at the very heart of that realm.” 

When Jonathan spread his wings, clearly prepared to flee, the dark purple magic around Magnus flared and sent him crashing back to the ground. It was the work of another moment to step forward and press the tip of his blade against Jonathan’s neck, watching him tense. “Is that all the fight you have in you? Happy to slaughter innocents and shadowhunters by the hundreds, by when you fight someone who can match you blow for blow and best you, you run?” 

“You haven’t beat me!” Jonathan snarled, leaping up with a beat of his wings, spinning on the offensive, pushing the warlock back with every swing of the blade, flames licking up the length of it. He pressed his advantage, using his wings to push him into the attack. “You can’t beat me, Edom’s blade or no!” 

Magnus let him press the assault, reading each attack as he telegraphed it and swung the blade that was clearly growing too heavy for him to wield. The shadowhunters behind him were keeping the wraiths off his back and he wanted to laugh - as though any of them would dare attack him with Edom’s power curled around him. He ducked under another too big swing and threw his elbow up and into Jonathan’s wrist, weakening his grip. After that, it was a matter of a spin, and another blast of magic before the sword clattered away from him. 

Jonathan forced himself upright with a beat of his wings, glaring at the warlock. “What, what the hell are you? Monster!” 

Magnus laughed, the sound dark, his eyes narrowed. “You may have been raised in Edom, by the mother of demons herself, Morgenstern,” he started, stopping next to the Morningstar blade. “But I am not only a child of Edom.” He reached down and picked up the angelic blade, watching it flame immediately under the touch, settling it into his hand. He watched Jonathan’s eyes widen and dart from his face to the blade held in his hand. 

“You, you, what  _ are _ you!” Jonathan managed, staring at him. 

Magnus’ smirk widened and he swung the Morningstar blade in a vicious arc, leaving Jonathan’s slumped body behind him. Another deep inhale had more power rushing through his veins and he looked to the sword in his left hand, his eyes tracing the flames curling up it. He looked up at the sky and the rift between the realms. Edom’s power was continuing to leech into this realm. 

Alec stepped forward, panting hard, looking from Jonathan's motionless body to Magnus. Both of the blades were held loosely in his hands, and his power was still coalescing around him in dark purple waves. “Magnus,” he called, panting hard. “We need to seal the rift. We can use-” 

“No,” Magnus said, his voice quiet as he turned to look back at Alexander. “You will do nothing with this blade.” He met Alec’s eyes and saw them widen in surprise before he was striding past his shadowhunter towards the steps of the Institute. Wraiths screamed in the air, and the sound of fire and destruction echoed around them. 

Magnus took another deep breath, pulling more of Edom’s power into his lungs, into his body, into his _magic,_ into his very being, tense on the steps of the Institute before he looked up. He placed both swords at his feet and focused on the rift, on the wraiths he could feel pouring through it, sent by Lilith. It was the matter of a second for him to feel them all, and to sever her bond with them. 

A scream from the very depths of Edom made Magnus smirk again and he lifted his eyes to it. “I imagine you weren’t expecting that,” he said, speaking quietly. Magnus inhaled again, slow and measured. His eyes flared bright gold and a harsh, echoing word escaped him. The infernal demonic language was an almost impossible to speak language unless you had been born to speak it. 

With that single word, all of the wraiths began to draw into the sky. The sounds of screams started to fade. Magnus took a step backward, the ancient stone under his feet cracking under the weight. He tilted his head slowly, magic gathering around his hands as the last of the wraiths began to head for the rift. Lilith’s scream came again and Magnus had all the wraiths turn to him. Let her feel the extent of power she had given him. 

“Magnus,” Alec breathed, approaching Magnus on the steps of the Institute. His eyes were focused on the wraiths and the rift. “What are you doing?” 

Another harsh, snarled phrase escaped Magnus and the wraiths began to move towards him. Magnus bent down to pick up the Edomite blade and held it tightly, even as he looked at Alexander. “Lilith,” he spat. “She is coming.” 

Alec’s eyes went wide and he looked up. “Shit, we have to, we have-” 

“You are going to let me handle her,” Magnus said, taking another measured breath. His head and magic were swimming in the power swarming him, the power his father had hoarded for millennia, now  _ his. _ “She’s coming for me, after all.” 

“Do you have a plan?” Alec asked, his eyes dropping to the other blade on the ground. 

Magnus turned to look at Alec. “You let me handle her,” he repeated, his voice harshening. “You take the others and get out-” 

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Alec said with a roll of his eyes, stepping in closer to Magnus, drawing arrows and resting them against the string. “I’m staying right here beside you, where I belong.” 

Magnus tilted his head, the dark purple magic around him fading to a lighter color for a brief few moments. “You aren’t scared of me?” 

Alec met Magnus’ eyes, the way the gold seemed to glow with purple, and the way his magic was curling around him, dark tendrils snapping with anger. He smiled faintly. “No, Magnus, I’m not scared of you.” 

“Strange,” Magnus said, his voice soft as he turned his attention away from Alec and up to the wraiths that were gathering, thick and cloistered together in the air. “Stand back, Alexander. You may stand with me, but I won’t have you injured.” 

Alec nodded and stepped back, watching as Magnus looked upward, the power around him darkening to almost black before he snarled another command in the language of demons. The harsh, grating sound echoed in the air and at once the wraiths began to dive. He sucked in a brief, panicked breath, when the first wraith hit the sword Magnus was holding and it disappeared with a flash  _ into _ the blade. 

Magnus breathed through the rush of power as wraith after wraith sacrificed themselves to boost the power of his blade. They were his, and knew it. They would answer his call, even to their death. The blade in his hand pulsed with power as the wraiths became a tornado, all of them disappearing in a repeated series of flashes. Once they were gone, and only the sound of Lilith’s scream in Edom remained. He lowered the blade. 

“Magnus,” Alec called, relief in his voice as he stepped closer. “Are you okay?” 

Magnus turned to look at the Nephilim beside him again, sheathed in his power, claimed by him more thoroughly than any speck of angelic blood remaining in the line of his forefathers. He blinked slowly, focusing on him. “Alexander,” he managed. Edom’s power was still sinking through the rift, funneling into the singular vessel it had in this world,  _ him. _ It was difficult to remember who and what he had been beyond her King. 

Alec frowned, reaching out to touch his arm. Magnus’ eyes were still glowing golden, but they were distant, almost as though he couldn’t focus. “Magnus, look at me. Are you all right?” 

Magnus swallowed, trying to focus on Alexander, fighting back the tidal wave of power screaming for him to take command of it, to rule, to  _ conquer. _ “I, it’s too much. Edom. I, it wants to pull me in.” He tightened his hand on the blade of his father and for the first time felt the true weight of it, nearly dropping it in surprise. 

“I’m not letting you go anywhere, Magnus,” Alec growled. “Not without me. How can I help you?” 

Magnus stared at Alexander, the weighted tug of Edom pulling on him again, demanding that he address the usurper. That he destroy her with blade and flame and stand as Edom’s rightful King. Her scream came again and he could see the shadow approaching the rift. He bent and picked up the Morningstar sword, the flames licking up the blade before he turned back to Alexander, breathing slowly. 

“Magnus,” Alec said, stepping closer, taking his arm. “You aren’t going anywhere without me. You are going to come back and I am going to stand by you in this fight, you hear me?” 

“Don’t be afraid of me,” Magnus ordered him, meeting his eyes, staring into those certain hazel eyes. “You’ll...have to pull me back, Alexander. You can’t be afraid of me. Or I won’t come.” 

“I’m not afraid of you,” Alec said, shifting his hand to cup Magnus’ face, pulling him in for a kiss. “I know who you are, Magnus. I am not afraid of you, and I never will be.” 

Magnus closed his eyes and breathed out against the soft lips, savoring the sweet taste, before he pulled back. He lifted his eyes back to the rift and breathed again, the faintest hint of sulfur filling his nose. “It’s time.” He stepped back, looking to the sky, the stone under his feet cracking with every step. More and more power was coalescing around him now, drawn to the magnet he had made himself. 

A slowly growing group of shadowhunters were approaching him, their weapons out, suspicious and fearful, ignoring the order of Alexander to let him be. He looked to the sky. A snarl curled his lips as the gigantic form of Lilith burst through the rift, her scream rending the air and making the shadowhunters scramble for cover. The resonating sound that escaped his throat, amplified by the power around him directed her to him, a challenge and a threat all in one. If Lilith wanted to take Edom’s power, she would have to kill him. 

“Don’t touch him!” Alec shouted. “That is a direct goddamn order! Stand down, unless you want Lilith to destroy the city!” 

“Magnus!” Clary dashed forward, panting. “There are still civilians being evacuated, you can’t bring her down here, they’ll-” 

“Very well.” Magnus held up his hand, cutting her off. He watched Lilith dive for him and rolled his shoulders. Power gathered at his back and with a grunt, Magnus let his body shift, huge, black, leathery wings bursting from his back. The shadowhunters around him drew back and Magnus took a slow, deep breath of Edom’s power and smirked, launching himself into the air, straight for Lilith. She would have strength, but he would have  _ speed. _

Two arrows sliced through the air past him and into Lilith’s wing, forcing her to bank and abandon the dive. Magnus turned to look, his wings sending him climbing into the air, even as he took in his shadowhunter on a roof of a nearby building, already starting to climb even higher. Magnus turned to focus on Lilith, tightening his hands on both blades in his hands. He needed to focus on the fight at hand. 

**“So what I felt is true, Asmodeus is no more, and a princeling attempts to stand in his stead,”** Lilith spoke, her voice an echoing roar. **“You cannot hope to defeat me.”**

Magnus’ lips twisted in a vicious smirk and he propelled himself forward, his wings stretched to every possible inch of their length, gliding under Lilith, slicing at her with the Morningstar blade. Ichor bled out of her, and she screamed again, this one of pain as she started to fall. He dove at her again, slashing at her wings as she began to detransform halfway to the ground. The wicked length of her claws sank into one of his own wings and Magnus fought down a shout, even as they both plummeted for the ground. 

Magnus had no time to brace himself, so he and Lilith hit the ground full-impact, and he only just managed to roll out of the way, his wings behind him and splayed wide when a wicked blade came for his throat. He blocked the attack with the Morningstar blade, smirking at Lilith’s widened eyes. Spinning away from her blade, sparks and shoots of flame emanating from the blade, his wings behind him for balance, Magnus watched her pace in front of him. 

**“So, you have finally accepted yourself as the demon you were raised to be,”** Lilith snarled. **“Your father would be proud of you.”** She smirked. **“Your shadowhunter will despise you. Shatter you into pieces and leave you alone.”**

“I don’t think so.” 

Magnus smiled at the vicious certainty in Alexander's tone and watched as five arrows, aimed for Lilith’s heart, were fired from behind him. They missed her, but two scraped along her shoulders, leaving her shouting, her eyes red and wild with fury. He smirked and raised his eyebrows, holding his blades in front of him. They were heavy and settled in his hands. 

When Lilith dove for him again, Magnus felt the blast of power echo from the both of him. Now he understood, in a way that he had never been able to before, precisely why his father had needed his power to match Lilith. Their blades clashed, again and again, the shockwaves decimating the buildings around them. Magnus’ skin crawled as Lilith shoved him back, her black, oily skin shining with all the wraiths she had absorbed. 

**“Do you think,” Lilith whispered,** the sound hissing into the air like poison. **“You are any true match for me,** _**warlock?”** _ She tightened her hand on her blade and inhaled, deep and measured. **“You think wielding an angelic blade is anything more than an indication of just how much of an abomination you are?”**

Magnus’ steps were heavy and measured as he stalked towards her, dark purple flames curling around him like a cloak. **“You are not the first to call me an abomination. You will not be the last.”** His wings flexed behind him, extending to their full length. **“But what does it say that the mother of demons is afraid of a warlock?”**

Lilith scoffed, diving at him with a swipe of her blade, growling when he leapt back, his blades still held at the ready, even as she pushed towards him, forcing him back with every vicious swipe of her sword. Even with both blades, he was barely a match for her, and she smirked, her eyes bright as she pushed the advantage. 

Magnus felt the presence behind him only a moment before arrows were fired again. They flew past his neck and cheek, one sinking into Lilith’s shoulder while she batted the other away, another shout escaping her as she did. 

_**“Nephilim!”**_ Lilith screamed, raising her palm, black magic gathering in it before suddenly holy fire was streaking towards her and she had to abandon the attack, lifting her blade that cracked under the force of both blades Magnus held. _**“No!”**_

Magnus’ smirk was cold, his eyes icy golden shards. **“You never were a match for my father’s magic and mine together.”** He dropped to his knees when she forced her arm forward, throwing his shoulder into her, sending her skidding back. A blast of magic was easy to twist out of the way of, Magnus deflecting it with an easy flare of dark purple magic. 

It was his turn to push his advantage, and he shoved her back, with blades, wings, and waves of power, fire rising around him as he did. He watched her screech and bare her teeth, firing waves of death magic at him, the black sludge sinking into the air around him. Magnus snarled and with a vicious spin, sliced the Morningstar sword through it, setting it alight, all the way back to where it extended to her fingertips, the fire leaping onto her, like a flame catching on dry tinder until it was an inferno. 

Magnus watched Lilith scream, the fire from the Morningstar sword consuming the ichor that drenched her and the depths of her power hidden beneath it. He strode towards her, watching her widening eyes as he advanced. It was the work of the briefest second to plunge the fiery blade straight into her heart, her scream rocking the very foundations of the city around them. The second she was gone, Magnus tightened his hold on both the blades and looked towards the sky. The very air around the rift was beginning to be tinted red, and the siren call of Edom, of _home,_ echoed through the air. 

Magnus took a step towards the opening when the sound of his name behind him made him pause. He looked over his shoulder at the nephilim there. _Alexander._ His Nephilim. He rolled his shoulders and let the wings fade from his back, a harsh breath escaping him. Turning his eyes skyward, he stared at the opening. 

“We have to seal the rift!” Alec shouted around the tornado of wind and power Magnus so casually stood in the middle of. “Magnus!” 

**“I am aware,”** Magnus said, his voice calm, as the air around him abruptly stilled. **“I no more want your realm tied to mine than you want it tied to yours.”** He lifted the Morningstar sword and studied it, running his fingers along the edges. 

“What do you mean your-” Alec started, only to be stopped by Magnus holding up his hand. 

**“A nephilim’s blood to open…”** Magnus said, humming. He drew the flaming blade along his hand, smearing blood along the length of it. **“A true nephilim’s blood to seal it.”** He looked up at the rift and breathed, in and out, slow and steady, the power around him beginning to grow exponentially. He tightened his hand on the blade and could hear the echo of his father, demanding that he know, that he understand, how much more powerful he would be in his home.

Releasing the blade, Magnus watched it float in front of him before it was wrapped in the dark purple and black power slowly growing in strength around him. With a quick motion of his hand, it flew upward, into the edge of the rift, a cavernous boom echoing as it, and his magic, began the arduous task of sealing the rift shut. Beyond it, Edom cried out for him to come  _ home. _ He took a step towards it when there was abruptly a hand at his wrist. 

Power flared around him, dark and violent in an instant, glaring at the shadowhunter who had dared. _His_ shadowhunter. **“Release me.”**

“Where are you going?” Alec asked, his voice verging on panic. There was only the briefest instant of recognition in Magnus’ eyes before they were glazed over and golden once more. “Magnus, where are you going?” 

Magnus tilted his head, frowning. He looked skyward. **“My kingdom calls me home. The usurper is dead. I can assume my rightful place.”**

“Your rightful place is right here,” Alec snapped. “Right here with me, with _us.”_

Magnus laughed, a harsh, violent sound that was ripped from the center of power in him. His magic surged around him, pushing and pulling at the shadowhunter. **“You think my place as Edom’s King is with mortals?”**

“Yes!” Alec shouted over the noise and dense power that was gathering around Magnus, the dark purple matching that stitching the rift shut. “You belong here with us, with _me,_ Magnus!” 

Magnus scoffed, narrowing his eyes. **“With _you._ What claim could a mortal possibly have on a King?”**

Alec took a step forward through the magic, then another, squinting his eyes against the force of the wind and the inky blackness of the power around Magnus. “I love you!” he shouted. “I love you, and I am going to marry you!” 

A croaked, cackling laugh escaped Magnus. **“You presume to-”**

Alec leapt forward the last few feet, wrapping both arms tightly around Magnus, burying his face in the column of Magnus’ neck. Even when the warlock jerked, hard dropping both the blades, Alec held on, refusing to let go when the power around him got even heavier, making it difficult to breathe. 

“Edom may claim you as her King, Magnus,” Alec whispered against his neck, even as power whipped wildly around them, pulling at his clothes and skin. “But it is not the only claim on you that exists.” He pressed his hand to Magnus’ heart and felt it pound against his palm.

Abruptly, the power around them went still and silent, shock causing it to fade. The power inside him raged at the idea that there was something, someone else who had a claim that went as deep and as binding as blood. 

Alec reached out and wrapped his hand around Magnus’ hand wearing the Lightwood ring, squeezing it. “You are  _ mine,” _ he growled, his voice low and possessive. “As I am yours. Where you go, I go. I have laid claim to your heart, Magnus Bane, and I will not give it up without a fight.” 

Fire, impossibly hot and violent, surged around them both, fighting at the hold and claim that had been laid out between them. Magnus tried to reign it in, to pull it back, but Alexander held on with a grunt, never letting go of his hand, or his waist. He could smell the charred scent of flesh as Edom’s magic fought to rip his nephilim away from him, the last piece tying him to this world.

“I’m not letting you go,” Alec shouted over the roar of the fire. He could hear Izzy and Clary shouting for him, and Jace’s fear through the bond. “I’m not afraid of you, and I’m not letting go, Magnus.” The fire got all the heavier around him and Alec grunted under the weight, refusing to let go of Magnus. 

Alec was about to yell again, when the world went abruptly still, and the weight was gone. Standing behind Magnus, in front of him, was the shape of a woman, her hair wild and free, her eyes golden and her body made of the purple, cackling magic that had been surrounding Magnus. He didn’t let go of his hold on the warlock, staring her down. 

**_“Do you know what I am, Alexander Lightwood?”_ **

To give name to her was to give her power, but Alec didn’t dare avoid it. _“Edom,”_ he whispered, watching the power she was made of cackle at the admission. “You are the one trying to take him from me.” 

**_“He is mine.”_ **

Alec glared at her. “He is his own. He lives for himself and for others. He belongs to no one.” 

_**“Yet you lay claim to him?”** _

“To his heart,” Alec snapped. “That which has been freely given to me, yes, I claim as mine.” He watched her take a step forward, a sudden cacophony of sound escaping her at the motion and Alec fought not to flinch under the weight of it. 

**_“I cannot be without my King. We do not exist apart.”_ **

Alec stared at her. “Can you exist in him?” A harsh, grating laugh echoed in the silence and he thought for another long minute, watching her tilt her head. “Can you exist  _ in _ someone?” 

**_“I am a power you cannot fathom. To control me would be to control the realm of Edom that will be no more.”_ **

“That’s a yes,” Alec said, narrowing his eyes. “You can exist in someone. You can be  _ tamed. _ ” He tilted his chin up, continuing to stare at her, watching as the power fluctuated and grew around her. 

**_“You think you can tame a power you have never tasted, never touched, that will seek to destroy as often as it will help you?”_ **

Alec closed his eyes and opened them again slowly. “I want to make a deal,” he offered her instead. “A deal for your life. Before you are destroyed.” 

She took a step towards him, the movement echoing with the shrieks of wraiths and demons contained within her.  **_“Fool of a mortal, to try to deal with a demon realm.”_ **

“Maybe,” Alec agreed. “But the alternative is to be destroyed, and I suspect you’re running out of time. He narrowed his eyes at her. “You will not take him from me. You will fail. So either I carry you and you survive, or you disappear with the realm.” 

She shrieked, pain, outrage and agony swarming through her, flames surrounding the Nephilim in front of her who  _ dared. _ But no matter how hard she raged, no matter the heat of the flames she threw at him, he stood and stared, waiting. She quieted and considered, the bubble she had pulled them into beginning to fall apart.  **_“You will remain with my King?”_ **

“I will remain bound to him for as long as my heart beats, my mind thinks, and my soul feels,” Alec said, staring at her, at the way the power around her was starting to break apart at the edges and held onto Magnus tighter, even though there was no movement where they stood. “We both belong to him.” 

She hummed in consideration, even as the air around them returned to the violent maelstrom.  **_“Very well.”_ ** In another instant, the bubble shattered and she was gone, and Alec could feel the flames and power pulling at him, now more insistently. Magnus was clinging to him, and abruptly the power around them died and Magnus slumped forward, his body shaking and trembling. 

Alec held onto him, and looked up at the rift that was slowly being sealed, piece by piece, and the darkening sky beyond it. The wild purple magic had been given purpose, but it would come for him. Alec swallowed and pushed his fingers through Magnus’ hair, kissing his forehead. “Stay safe, Magnus. I love you.” He lifted his head and looked to Jace, glad when he ran forward. 

Moving carefully, he put Magnus into Jace’s arms and looked at him. “No matter what you are about to see or hear, don’t come near me, all right? Keep him here, keep him safe.” 

“Alec,” Jace shouted, growling when Alec didn’t look back, only stood and walked away from him. The wind was starting to pick up again and he glared as his parabatai kept walking further from them down the empty street. 

Once he was far enough away from Magnus, Jace, Clary, and Isabelle, Alec looked to the rift, and watched as the last of the magic sealed it with a sonic boom echoing across Alicante. When the magic turned, he caught a glimpse of the woman who had spoken with him and held his arms open. He heard the others scream his name behind him, but then she was reaching for him, all the fires of Edom contained within her. Alec held out his hand and closed his eyes, picturing Magnus smiling as they slid their rings onto their hands. “For _Magnus,”_ he whispered, his eyes flaring open right as her fingers touched his. 

~!~

The scream that was wrenched from Alexander’s mouth mere moments after the true power of Edom touched him, would haunt Magnus for the remainder of his centuries. He shoved at Jace, but the shadowhunter held him tight, even as Alexander was thrown to the ground, a crater forming around him from the force, the echoes of his scream ringing in the air as Edom  _ descended  _ into the Nephilim who had welcomed her  _ in.  _

“No, no,” Magnus sobbed, eventually throwing Jace off of him with a blast of magic, sending him careening into the other shadowhunters, stumbling towards the inferno of demonic power sinking into Alexander’s angelic body, burning him alive from the inside out. “Stop, you have to stop!” he shouted at the magic, but she didn’t answer, for all that she had answered his call before, now she refused him. Magnus watched Alec writhe against the stone, all his muscles straining, blood dripping from his nose and ears as the power roared around them. 

It could have gone on for minutes, or hours, Magnus didn’t know, but in the space of a single second, the air went from fire and shadow to clear and silent. His breath caught. Alexander’s body was at the center of a crater in the street and he stumbled, leaping down into it, healing magic springing to his fingers as he reached out, praying that he wouldn’t be too late, that he’d still be able to save him. 

“Alec, no, Alec, what the hell were you thinking,” Magnus growled, skidding to a stop before kneeling next to him, running his magic over him. He flinched back, Alec’s skin was on fire and it took another two tries before it did not physically hurt to touch him, even with his magic. “Alec, Alexander, look at me, fuck, look at me, Alec!” 

Magnus pushed more magic into Alec when he was suddenly blown back, sent skidding along the loose stones of the crater, and Alec was… _Alec was…_

“Alec?” Magnus called, cautious. Alec was sitting upright, blinking slowly. When Alec turned to him and his eyes were a dark, glowing purple without a pupil, he swallowed, horror curling deep into him. “No,” he breathed. “No! You can’t take him from me! Give him back!” 

Alec tilted his head and Magnus hated the lack of familiarity in the gesture, in the way there was no expression in his face. He stood up and approached Alec’s body, his mind racing at the idea that Alec could be  _ gone, _ could somehow have died at the whim of a power that belonged to  _ him. _ “Alexander-” 

**_“No. Not any longer.”_ **

A sob broke out of him at the voice that was wrong, the body language that was wrong, at everything so wrong his very magic ached with it. “Bring him back,” he ordered, staring at the power occupying Alec’s body. “Don’t, you can’t!” Alec’s precious face turned to look at him properly and Magnus wanted to rage against the injustice of the world. 

**_“It is already done, my King. He made his deal.”_ **

Magnus watched Alec’s body stand upright, dusting himself off as though nothing was wrong, as though the motion were normal, and his very world had not ended at the hands of power that belonged to him. His hands shook and he watched Alec’s body approach, only to freeze halfway and shudder, hard. He watched those eyes get clenched shut and then Alec was crashing to his knees, heaving in desperate and deep breaths of air. _“Alec!”_

Alec blinked his eyes open, staring up at Magnus, who was racing for him and sucked in another frantic breath. His whole body still felt on fire, but it was finally, at last, starting to recede. He could even feel the  _ satisfaction _ now, as though Edom herself approved of him being with Magnus. “Magnus,” he gasped, wrapping his arms around Magnus tight as the warlock crashed into him. “Magnus, you’re all right.” 

“Me?!” Magnus shouted, incredulous. “You, you, you just, and you ask about me?!” 

Alec wanted to laugh, but every single part of him ached. “Yeah, I did. Lightwood family motto.” 

Magnus’ mouth dropped open and he stared up at Alexander, his brow wrinkling before his mouth opened, snapped shut, and then opened again. “Your family motto is-” 

Alec waved a hand tiredly. “No, not that one. The other one,” he said, tightening his arm around Magnus. “We break noses and accept the consequences. She was trying to bring you home. And I wasn’t…” he yawned. “Wasn’t gonna let you go.” 

“So you offered to house her?!” Magnus shouted, even as he kept Alec cradled carefully against him. “Alexander, you don’t even know what this has done to you, and on top of that-” 

Alec pressed a finger to Magnus’ lips and stared him down, until Magnus deflated. Once he had, he leaned in and stole a kiss, soft and gentle. “I love you,” he breathed. 

“I love you too, you stubborn asshole,” Magnus whispered, holding Alec tighter. “Alec this is dangerous, no one has ever done this before, I don’t know what she’s done to you, done to your blood, to, to, what it means for this  _ realm-” _

“Woah, woah,” Alec said. “Slow down. Nothing’s gonna happen. Her power is dormant, now. And it’s yours. I can’t use it.” He paused and shrugged. “Well, not all of it, anyways. I’m basically a walking battery for you.” 

Magnus blinked and pulled back to look up at Alec, staring at him. “What?” 

Alec shrugged. “Yeah, I figured…” He took Magnus’ hand and started to lead him to the edge of the crater. “Long as I had the piece of my soul in Jace’s body, I couldn’t be lost entirely. So I knew I’d survive. This way, you didn’t have to try to absorb the power and either…” he climbed over the lip of the crater and groaned, the movement winding him. “Either go with her into Edom, or get seriously hurt here.” 

Magnus took Alec’s hand and let his fiancé pull him up and over the edge, kneeling next to him, before he started to laugh. “Alec, you don’t even know what it  _ did  _ to you!” 

Alec held out his hand and concentrated, and after a few seconds, a silver flame began to dance in his hand and he showed it to Magnus. “Think, uh, I’m a warlock. Maybe. Or something.” 

Magnus sucked in a hard, frantic breath and squeezed Alec’s hand, even as he heard nephilim approaching. He looked up and met Alec’s eyes, relaxing when he saw those precious hazel eyes he loved. “May I check? I’ll be able to tell.” 

“Of course,” Alec said, softening. “You know I’d let you do anything, Magnus.” He smiled and closed his eyes, relaxing as Magnus reached out with his magic. Except this time, something in him reached  _ back, _ lurching eagerly for Magnus, almost like his magic wanted to touch him badly in return.

“Alexander,” Magnus said, a laugh in his voice. “Darling, you need to open your eyes.” 

Alec blinked his eyes open immediately, looking down to Magnus worriedly, but all he saw was Magnus looking behind him with an awed smile on his face. He turned to look over his shoulder and froze, his eyes widening. “Is that my, uh, mark?” Two massive wings, made of cackling purple and silver lightning extended more than twenty feet behind him. Alec focused back and Magnus and waited for the warlock to look at him again. 

Magnus couldn’t help it. He started to laugh. Alec was a warlock the likes of which had never been seen on this plane and likely would never be seen again, the sleeping power of an entire demonic realm resting within him. He leaned in and pressed his forehead to Alec’s neck, glad when the shadowhunter held him close. “As close as I can get to describing it? Yes.” 

“Right,” Alec swallowed and took a few deep breaths, willing the wings to disappear, glad when they finally faded in a cackle of magic. There was a humming under his skin, responding to Magnus, wanting to hold him closer and he breathed out hard, tightening his around the warlock. “We’ll have to figure that out.” 

Magnus hummed and nodded. “Rest, first? Maybe celebrate being engaged?” 

Alec grinned, bright and wide. “I like the sound of that.” When he caught sight of Aline approaching, he smiled at her and met her gaze squarely. 

“Alec,” Aline said, inclining her head to him. “Care to explain what just happened?” 

Magnus made a noise against Alec’s chest and shook his head. The last thing he wanted to get into was everything that had just happened. He wanted to curl up into Alec’s arms and not move for hours. 

Alec hummed and looked back down at Magnus and then up to Aline. “Truthfully? No. Not until tomorrow at the earliest. We can rest easy tonight.” 

She raised both of her eyebrows. “Can we?” 

“Yeah,” Alec said, watching Clary, Jace, and Isabelle approach behind Aline. He looked to them and smiled faintly. “Jonathan is dead. Lilith is dead. Edom is gone.” He exhaled hard and looked to the clear sky. “The rift is sealed.” 

Aline blinked. 

Clary snorted and shook her head. “Fucking Lightwoods. Don’t do anything by halves, do you?” 

Izzy looked to Alec and then to Magnus. “I guess we’re offering the two of you congratulations and you’re going to go sleep for several hours.” 

Alec pressed his face against the side of Magnus’ head, closing his eyes as he breathed in slowly, the reminder that things were okay, that Magnus was here with him, that they were together, and engaged. “Yeah,” he said. “Sleeping for several hours sounds great.” 

“It does,” Magnus agreed from where his face was pressed against Alec’s neck. “Shall we leave now, darling? The world can wait til tomorrow.” 

Alec looked up at Aline and offered her a smile. “We’ll be happy to appear tomorrow and I’ll give an exhaustive report of what happened and how. But for right now? I’m going to sleep, and celebrate the fact that I just got engaged.” 

Aline softened, a small smile curling on her lips. “Of course, Alec. Congratulations.” 

“Thanks,” Alec offered her, before turning back to Magnus. “Want to portal us back…” he winced and flinched. “Right, shit. Okay, let me talk to-” 

“I got it back,” Magnus said, exhaling hard. “And I have a problem to deal with when we get back,” he added, pinching the bridge of his nose. “So we should go deal with that.” 

Alec nodded and watched Magnus summon a portal. He looked to the others and gave them a brief wave before stepping through. A flash of magic and a hurried conversation later, Lorenzo was on his way in a huff, and with another wave of magic, the loft was returned as it should be and they were standings across the room from each other. 

“Magnus?” Alec asked, taking a step towards him. 

Magnus blinked, shaking himself and focusing on Alexander. His magic was almost itching under his skin and the urge to let it go was hovering just underneath everything. “Yes, Alexander?” 

Alec took a deep breath and walked across the rest of the loft until he was standing in front of Magnus again, leaning in to press their foreheads together. “Do you still want to get married?” 

Magnus’ breath caught and he stared at Alec with wide eyes, his stomach falling. “Alexander-” 

“I get it, if you, if you’ve changed your mind, you know,” Alec blurted, reaching out to carefully rest his hands on Magnus’ hips. “I, I didn’t think. I just wanted to protect you, and marrying, marrying someone for the rest of their life, compared to forever is a whole different ball game and if you want to take your time, or-” 

“Alexander,” Magnus growled, interrupting him. “You just unintentionally signed yourself up for immortality, and your main concern is whether or not I want to be married to you forever?” 

Alec paused and stared at him. “Yes…?” he offered, swallowing, the magic in him roiling in fear. He’d promised to stay beside Magnus, and here he was, wondering if he could ever have that.

Magnus huffed and cupped Alec’s face in his hands, pulling him in for the softest of kisses. “My darling, I want every day I can get with you, and forever might just be barely long enough.” 

Alec breathed out hard, relaxing and pulling Magnus in for a tight hug, squeezing him tight. “Okay.” He nodded and let go of Magnus just long enough so he could tug the other warlock towards the bedroom. “Time to rest?” 

Magnus followed him in bemusement. “Rest sounds wonderful, but you don’t want to ask me about... everything back there?” 

Alec yawned and shrugged, stripping off his shirt, jeans, shoes and socks. “Don’t need to. Already figured it out. Edom told me the rest. Just need you to tell me what to tell Aline and the Clave tomorrow.” 

“You...figured it out?” Magnus asked in surprise, shedding the rest of his clothes with a decisive flick of his fingers, heading for the bed, where Alec was already climbing under the blankets. 

“Yeah,” Alec said, reaching out to pull Magnus close as soon as he was in bed. “Prince of Hell. Fallen Angel. Makes you a nephilim, really, even though it’s different. So you could wield the Morningstar sword, and the demonic one from Edom.” 

Magnus laughed and reached out, combing his fingers through Alec’s hair as his shadowhunter buried his face against his chest. “And you decided it would be a good idea to offer sanctuary to the magic of Edom herself into your body, to protect me.” 

“Always gonna protect you,” Alec muttered. “Love you, so much, Magnus.” 

Magnus nuzzled into Alec’s chest, the weight of the Lightwood ring on his finger making him smile. “I love you too, Alexander. Can’t wait to marry you.” He felt Alec smile against his chest and closed his eyes with a hum. “We can talk more about that tomorrow."

“Yeah,” Alec agreed, his voice soft. “We can.” He yawned again and closed his eyes, settling in. 

It didn’t take Alec long to fall asleep and Magnus allowed himself a few more minutes of petting Alec’s hair idly, gently touching the core of power that now permeated every inch of his shadowhunter. Like this, he could feel the possessive curl of the magic inside Alec and closed his eyes, smiling. Forever with Alexander. He could get used to that. 

**Author's Note:**

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**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Dinner Is Ruined](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24727858) by [ValkyrieNyght](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValkyrieNyght/pseuds/ValkyrieNyght)
  * [Forever I'm Yours, Forever I Do](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24726649) by [AceOnIce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceOnIce/pseuds/AceOnIce)
  * [When Edom Remains](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27660607) by [Hermit9](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hermit9/pseuds/Hermit9)




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